Read the Statement here.

Comment here on the potential impact on EMS educational and patient care quality.

Download the PDF here.

In an Open Letter the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) has adopted a resolution (22-13) during its June 2022 Board meeting that would allow the option for State Offices of EMS to approve Paramedic education programs that do not hold either Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) accreditation or the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions (CoAEMSP's) Letter of Review (LoR), as meeting eligibility requirements for the NREMT paramedic examination and national certification. This resolution is open for public comment until August 2022, at which time a final decision will be made by the NREMT’s Board of Directors.

In the event that this resolution passes, Paramedic candidates completing a program approved by their State Office of EMS would have the option to take the NREMT exam and become a practicing Paramedic without graduating from a CAAHEP accredited or CoAEMSP LoR designated program.

In an Open Letter the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) has adopted a resolution (22-13) during its June 2022 Board meeting that would allow the option for State Offices of EMS to approve Paramedic education programs that do not hold either Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) accreditation or the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services

Professions (CoAEMSP's) Letter of Review (LoR), as meeting eligibility requirements for the NREMT paramedic examination and national certification. This resolution is open for public comment until August 2022, at which time a final decision will be made by the NREMT’s Board of Directors.

In the event that this resolution passes, Paramedic candidates completing a program approved by their State Office of EMS would have the option to take the NREMT exam and become a practicing Paramedic without graduating from a CAAHEP accredited or CoAEMSP LoR designated program.

The CoAEMSP is highly concerned with the direction the NREMT is taking. CoAEMSP serves to advance the quality of EMS education through accreditation, which serves to ensure paramedic programs meet minimum educational standards and best practices. In doing so CoAEMSP advocates in the best interest of patient safety, ensures competent entry-level paramedic graduates, and advances the profession as a key member of the healthcare continuum.

Be assured, that the CoAEMSP believes that CAAHEP accreditation is necessary for a well-prepared and qualified workforce in Emergency Medical Services. Thus, it stands firmly behind its mission and vision, and will continue to maintain the highest of standards for evidence-based accreditation as defined in the EMS Education Agenda for the Future.

The Prehospital Care Research Forum hosted a live podcast/webcast at ACCREDITCON. The research article discussed was the paper on Administrative and Educational Characteristics of Paramedic Program in the United States, Prehospital and Disaster Medicine (2022).

ACCREDITCON 2022, held June 1-5 in Louisville, Kentucky was attended by a record number of EMS stakeholders.

563 EMS professionals came together for the second in-person collaborative geared to make Paramedic educational programs most successful in gaining or maintaining CAAHEP accreditation. ACCREDITCON 2022 consisted of 20 sessions, 21 speakers, 7 pre-event sessions, and 20 exhibitors. Plans are already being made for next year's ACCREDITCON which will take place May 31-June 4, 2023.

Visit the ACCREDITCON website and watch for updates in these newsletters.

The CoAEMSP Board met via web meeting on May 6, 2022.

The CoAEMSP Board provides predictable, consistent, and deliberate communications with its sponsors about the work of the Board. The Board provides official updates via the Board Highlights to each of its 12 sponsors within 30 days of each Board meeting.

These Board Highlights are shared directly with each of the sponsors’ CEOs following the 30-day moratorium after a board meeting as well as posted here for review by anyone, including students, graduates, faculty, Paramedic educational program sponsors, administration, hospital/clinic representatives, employers, police and/or fire services with a role.

The CoAEMSP Annual Accreditation fee invoice was sent to all Program Director emails on May 4, 2022. If you are the program director of record and did not receive the annual fee invoice, please check your spam/junk folder. If you still do not have it, then email sybil@coaemsp.org.

To save time, streamline processes, reduce data entry, and eliminate additional processing fees, the CoAEMSP strongly encourages your program to pay invoices by ACH (Automated Clearing House). ACH payments are electronic payments that transfer funds directly from a checking account to the payee. Instead of writing out and mailing a paper check, the funds move automatically.

You may pay invoices by Automated Clearing House (ACH) or the View and Pay Invoice option that will appear as a link in the emailed invoice. As a reminder, credit cards are not accepted. The CoAEMSP will accept checks this year; however, please note that we are moving toward requiring all payments being made via ACH or “View and Pay” in the future.

All programs selecting to pay by ACH should email payment advice to sybil@coaemsp.org. A payment advice provides the details on payment and provides advance notice to the recipient.

The advantages of paying via ACH or the “View and Pay” option are:

•   Pay directly through the invoice

•   Secure environment

•   Payment processes in 3 days instead of 3 weeks (checks)

•   Automatically applies to the invoice (less data entry errors)

Have questions? Please contact Sybil Land at sybil@coaemsp.org for any questions regarding invoicing/payments.

Megan Corry, EdD, NRP and Lori Burns, RN, MSN

Program directors are responsible for the continuous quality review, improvement, long range planning, and ongoing development of the accredited paramedic program (Standard III.B.1.a.). This is achieved through a strategic planning process involving the program sponsor, personnel, students, and advisory committee members. This webinar will discuss the best practices of accredited programs in the process of strategic planning and ongoing program improvement.

At the conclusion of this presentation, the participant will be able to:

For a current list of CoAEMSP LoR and CAAHEP Accredited programs, visit www.caahep.org.

David Filipp, EdD, NRP, Program Director of the Paramedic Program sponsored by UCLA, earned Doctor of Education degree from Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, conferred on May 13, 2022. Congratulations, Dr. Filipp!

Andrew Stern, MPA, MA, NRP, has been a site visitor for the CoAEMSP for nearly 20 years, and is retiring from his role. His peers and the programs to which he visited often said, Andy “was very easy to work with and positive throughout” and “did an excellent job”. Thank you, Andy!